Batik in Batawia

Batik- a word believed to be a combination of "banyak"+"titik-titik" 

which is Indonesian for "many"+"dots". 

For many years now the Indonesians and Malaysians have been in conflict due to lack of substantial evidence, in favour of either country, which would make them the proud country of origin for this traditional textile art. This conflict remains unresolved to date.

Having grown up in Indonesia and seen batik so commonly used, I never realised its value until today.

At the Museum of Textiles Jakarta I had my first attempt at batik, and boy was I wrong about how easy it would be to create these seemingly simple geometric patterns in dots and lines. If anyone ever feels the need to test the stability and control of their hands- batik is the way to do so.

There are a few simple steps within the Batik construction process.

Step 1. is outlining the batik pattern on cloth with pencil (Membuat Pola- Molani)

Step 2. Tracing the pattern on the right side of the fabric with melted wax using a tool called the Canting. which looks like a small tub attached to a curved nib- for drawing, and a wooden handel. (Melekatkan Lilin 1- Ngelowongi)  

Step 3. Tracing the same pattern on the wrong side of the fabric using melted wax again. 

Melekatkan Lilin- Nemboki)

Step 4. dip-dying process which involves colouring and boiling the fabric. 

(Mewarnai & Merebus- Nyelup & Merebus)

1st attempt at Batik

This being my first, I let the art enthusiast in me choose a detailed pattern and got  through the first 2 steps- not without having driven over a few speed bumps- then proudly took the messy art piece to the lady running the workshop. Thinking we were ready for the dip- dye process, only to be dismayed at being informed that I had a whole wrong side to trace in wax. I never thought I'd be able to survive this,  as if tracing using a canting wasn't challenging enough to do once, tracing it the second time was like tracing black over black- this was a whole new level of skill and patience! 

I'm describing the laboriousness of a 30 x 30 cm piece of cloth, Respect to all those ladies who batik 2 - 3 meters. Some handprinted batik can take over a year to complete depending on the fineness of the print and the number of layers of colours.

Gas Stations: Ceramic and Metal tins.

Jakarta Textile Museum